Koni's vs Tokico's

Which one's better, comparing yellow's to illumina's. Both are adjustable, so other than different brands, ?? how much spring can they handle? 350-400lbs per in to much? Budget autox and track use...

Thanks guys Gene

Some people like Tokico's. I've read (on teh 1ntr4w3b, y0) of lots of people having blown out Tokicos. No one ever wishes they didn't get the Koni's.

Can the Tokico's be rebuilt? I know the Koni's can, I've found someone selling both for the same price(used), so I'm wondering which ones to go with, leaning twards the Koni's atm, but I thought I would ask the collective knowledge base here about it.

Dr. Hess wrote: I've read (on teh 1ntr4w3b, y0) of lots of people having blown out Tokicos.

I've understood that to be the cheaper HPs and not the Illuminas.

In reply to MCarp22:

I've had a couple of Illuminas replaced under warranty on my Civic. One was truly blown-out, but since both were purchased at the same time, good customer service practices meant I received two new ones.

Not bad!

Spinout007 wrote: Can the Tokico's be rebuilt?

No. Which is a big part of the reason most racers will lean toward konis. If the price is the same, buy the konis.

What I've heard is that the difference shows itself when you put the two on a shock dyno. Adjustables cheaper than a Koni yellow have inconsistent valving between adjustments, i.e. "4 clicks" on two supposedly identical shocks doesn't dampen the same, and the jumps between clicks aren't consistent. From my source up at Thunderhill, even the Konis aren't great when compared to a similarly priced non-adjustable shock (like a Bilstein), and for real consistency you have to step up to something like a Penske or an Ohlins ($$$$$$$$$).

I think I have a blown Tokico (Blue) on the MR2 but that would be my first. I have had good success with them to date, but would step up to a Koni if I could afford it. For the same $, go Koni.

Koni's CAN be rebuilt. It isn't cheap, but it isn't as much as new shocks either.

It really comes down to the car and the damping curves the shock engineers chose for that application. One thing to keep in mind is that in most applications, the Konis only adjust rebound and not compression. The Illuminas adjust both curves together.

On the Miata, the Koni (with stock valving) works well with stock springs but I don't think it can handle stiffer ones as well. The Tokicos work well with stiffer springs - and with a lifetime warranty, the fact that they can't be rebuilt isn't critical.

I had Illuminas on my SW21 MR-2 with TRD springs. I never felt like the ride (or handling) was nearly as good in my car as it is in my friend's SW21 with the same springs and Konis. I bought the Tokicos because they were cheaper, and I was never really happy with the decision. I never autocrossed or tracked either car, but for aggressive street use, I felt like the Konis were better.

I have yellows on my Miata with Ground Control coilovers and am very happy with the combination.

2 MR2s Part Deuce Both a friend and I have AW11s with the same aftermarket springs and polyurethane bushings. I have Koni yellows and he has the Illuminas. My car produces a lot less vibration and general harshness on public roads despite the fact I'm using a lower profile tire. It also seems to handle better, but I don't want to draw any real conclusions from that since his tires aren't in the same performance category as mine. Take it with a grain of salt, but my point is that my own experience supports the shock dyno comparisons and reviews I've seen that show Konis having a more digressive curve with more low speed damping than the Illuminas. The Tokicos were more linear, but not as much as I thought.

Keith is right - results will depend on the application, but in general Konis seem to be more forgiving on the street and have a greater range of adjustment in my Honda/Toyota experience. There are probably some exceptions, like the Miata. As far as the Koni's ability to handle high spring rates - there are mr2 guys using OTS Koni yellows with up to 700lb/in springs on autocross setups. They don't work great above 550-600, but they still work.

From my experience, night and day.

Adjustable Yellow Koni's are very very good, adjustable Illuminas are as good as non adjustable Konis.

Most Illuminas are used because Konis are not available.

I'm thinking of making a lowball offer on both sets and see where it gets me. That way I can try both out and sell off the one I don't like. My wife has to be happy with this too, lol. After all it is technically her car.

Illuminas have a decent reputation for going south

Koni Yellows do not.

I currently haved a blown shortened race koni on my CRX... which is not covered under warranty. The reason I stepped up to the race konis is because I blew a regular yellow--both of these went in about one year of use.

I blew a set of Koni yellow's after 6 years of daily driving (in Michigan) and track use. They replaced them all under warranty (bought through the Tire Rack). Michigan winters had been bad to them.

I liked them and would buy another set if I needed some.

Never had the Illumina's.

I'll preface this by saying I'm a lot more of Koni fan, but I like the Tokicos OK. I've had them on numerous cars and they always work well. The Tokicos seem to be hit or miss.

I know for sure on the MR2 the Konis are light years better, I've run both. The MR2 gets nervous at high speed running a strut with a lot of compression. In general, I think lots of compression over rebound tends to be a mask. Properly set up, springs should do that job instead of the shock.

In classes where spring rates can't be optimized though, a stiff compression can help control body movement, but you to pay a penalty for it. And some cars are not as sensitive as others.